


Ladynoir July 2020

by miraculouslycool



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Being blind idiots in love, Denial of Feelings, Every prompt is literally just them, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Ladynoir July 2020, Post-Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), Post-Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:54:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24999415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculouslycool/pseuds/miraculouslycool
Summary: Things were going to be very different around here.They had lost their entire team.They had lost Master Fu.Ladybug now had a Miracle box to take care of.Chat Noir had moved on from Ladybug, and she wasn't sure how to take it.At least, no matter how much things changed, they would always stay the same.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 45
Kudos: 137





	1. Day 1: The Wall Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Ladynoir July!!
> 
> I have to note that I won't be doing all the prompts this time, cause I'm still working on Her Light to His Darkness, and updates will still occur for that fic weekly. (I hope!)
> 
> Just to be clear, I'm not following the original calendar.
> 
> I have combined some of the prompts which I found synonymous and worked properly for the storyline, so the day numbers may be a lil wonky lol.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why was Chat Noir suddenly taking an interest in counting?

' _That was an incredibly close shave.'_ was the simultaneous thought in both the minds of Paris' heroes.

Chloe Bourgeois had outright gotten a member of the housekeeping staff of Le Grand Paris fired over a simple misunderstanding and the poor woman had gotten akumatised, directly targeting the bratty heiress. AGAIN.

"Chaton, I only have one spot left." Ladybug said nervously.

"I have one paw left too." He said, his gaze dropping to his ring.

"Wait," he abruptly stopped running on the rooftops, which made Ladybug stop too.

He pointed, and Ladybug followed his finger to see a tall chimney on a house's roof.

"Perfect for hiding." He said.

Ladybug smiled at him, thankful for his quick thinking, reeling her yo yo ahead. "Let's go then."

* * *

  
Marinette and Tikki fought to hide their smile as she heard Chat Noir quietly bicker with his kwami.

However, there was still something that was eating away at her.

"Chaton?" She called, uncertainly.

"No, you're not getting another wheel of- Yes, LB? Sorry, Plagg's being annoying." He said, his voice was light and pleasant, and she didn't understand how it could stay that way after what he had pulled during their recent endeavour.

And it wasn't even the first time. He had been doing it for the past few weeks, ever since Master Fu lost his memories and she became the guardian. She had tried her best to act like she didn't notice, but she couldn't do it anymore.

"Why do you keep count?" She asked, approaching him gently, trying to not ambush him.

She didn't know how he looked like behind the mask, or if his behaviour changed or remained the same, but she could tell he was as stiff as the brick wall in between them.

"Chat? What-"

"Keep count? What do you mean?"

"What was 515? Why do you announce those numbers out loud when we're fighting?"

"517, actually-" he muttered before cutting himself off.

"Exactly!! You keep count of SOMEthing with so much precision, and I didn't want to ask but you've been doing it since I became the guardian, and there's some sort of pattern to it, isn't there??" The gears of her logical mind, used to problem solving, whirred with life.

"What pattern?" He sounded downright terrified now.

"You always keep count of the times you save me." Ladybug stated the little factoid she found out recently. "Either you push me out of the way or you take a hit for me, and then instead of focusing on saving yourself, you're counting!!! It's confusing and- and you're scaring me, is something wrong??"

* * *

  
On the other side of the wall, Plagg had finally stopped taking tiny bites of his cheese just to piss off his chosen, instead, he was staring at his very white face with concern.

He made a shooing gesture with his tiny paws, wordlessly gesturing Adrien to somehow change the subject.

"I... it's nothing." Adrien swallowed, his heartbeat constricting heavily as imaginary yellow smoke clouded his vision. "I'm fine, Ladybug, the counting is nothing serious or anything, I just...hehe," he tried to deflect into jokes, "Just want to keep a track of how pawsome I am, everytime I save you! And my pawsomeness is raised to the power of 517, but who's counting?"

He really needed to stop announcing his numbers out loud and just keep it to himself.

"Really?" He heard Ladybug whisper.

"If it bothers you, I can stop doing it-"

"I'm worried about YOU! I don't care if you are able to count to a 1000 or a million, I am scared if-"

"It doesn't really matter. I'm sorry I made you worry, I didn't mean to." He said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why, though?" She pleaded desperately.

"There really isn't a why, Ladybug, I'm happy to be there for you, I'm happy to be fighting alongside you, especially now." He insisted on the 'now'.

"I want to be there for you too, this is a two way street, mister." She said sternly.

Adrien stared down at this worried kwami, who was tactfully keeping silent. Wordlessly, he asked, _'How do I tell her I'm keeping track of the times I saved her so I can make up for the 25,913 times I didn't?'_

"Wall." He said instead.

* * *

  
Marinette's breath hitched.

'Wall' was the safeword she had come up with and they had agreed on. The incident with Miracle Queen had only served to bring them closer, and their conversations - when it didn't involve technical things like kwamis and new recruits for their team - strikingly more intimate. So intimate they were both at a risk of saying one wrong thing and revealing their identities.

It certainly didn't help that Marinette and Chat Noir as well as Adrien and Ladybug had crossed paths several times.

If either of them voiced their safeword, it was because it became too personal, or they couldn't explain things without revealing their identities, and so the topic was to be shut down, and no more probing was to be done.

They hadn't found too many chances to use it, they had been partners long long before everything turned upside down, and they were always good at using hypotheticals and working around their double lives.

The few times it was used, it was always Ladybug who did it. She would set her boundaries, he never failed to respect them, and they would move on.

This was the first time Chat used it.

And of course she would shut up and not push further.

She was still worried, and her heart yearned to reach out to him, shake him by the shoulders and beg him to let her in, but she would be a hypocrite for doing that. Marinette was several things but she was not unfair.

She extended her hand out towards the side of the wall, hopefully far enough to be visible to him. "Okay." She said.

It was enough. His bare, warm (and large, she realised with a flushed face) hand landed on top of hers, giving it a light squeeze.

Most people would think it was strange, knowing everything and nothing at the same time about someone.  
To Ladybug and Chat Noir, it was the norm. A very, very difficult norm they had to get used to.


	2. Day 2: Stargazing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Chat Noir connected the stars, Ladybug yearned for him to connect the dots.

It was an unusual night in Paris, France. 

Normally at around 1 AM, you would have your customary nighttime akuma courtesy of a magic butterfly terrorist, but today, maybe Hawkmoth decided that he was going to sleep for once, because there weren't any demonic screams of akumas demanding Ladybug and Chat Noir for their miraculouses. 

The only sounds that littered the nighttime air were Ladybug's giggles as Chat Noir lay flat on his back, trying to make ridiculous constellations of his own in the starry sky. 

"Wow, I cannot believe I'm saying this," Ladybug turned her head to look at him. "But you are uncommonly good at making a panda appear out of a few stars."

"What can I say? Paris has gifted us an unusually pollution free night, so why not make the use of it?" He winked at her. 

Ladybug grinned, but that tiny squirm in her body refused to budge. She was so so sure he was about to use one of his nicknames for her right then. She knew him so well, those things always rolled off his tongue. 

' _Apparently I don't know him as well as I thought.'_ Ladybug muttered internally. 

It was always Ladybug now, or sometimes an LB if he felt like it. She was hitting herself in the head. Wasn't that what she always wanted? For him to stop calling her Bugaboo? 

_'Yeah, I wanted that about Bugaboo, whatever happened to m'lady??'_ that stupid inner voice whined. _'I was always fine with that!'_

"What else have you got, Kitty Cat?" Ladybug drawled, hoping he would get the hint. 

"Okay, okay, look," he said, pointing to their right, "if you connect those three stars, and then that tiny one underneath it, it kind of looks like Camembert cheese." 

It took him all of a minute to look disgusted with himself.

She nearly lost her breath laughing. "Looks like it's growing on you after all, Chaton. What on earth would Plagg think?" 

"Don't even entertain the thought!!" He said, clearly offended. "Plagg was just being really petty all of today because it took so long for his cheese to get shipped over to my house." He grumbled. "Must be getting to me." 

"I don't know....I know this really good bakery that sells a lot of high quality Camembert, would you like me to bring a slice next time?" She offered kindly.

"Thanks, Ladybug, but I don't want to spoil him too much, he already eats three wheels a day." 

"Wasn't talking about Plagg." She whispered conspirationally.

"Then what were you- oh come on!! I can't stand the stupid piece of cheese!! You would be too if you had to smell like it 24/7 just to get to transform!! Honestly, if it didn't mean getting to see you every time I had to smell another whiff of Camembert ever again, I would put my foot down." 

"You? Put your foot down? Now that I'd like to see." She scoffed, trying to hide how much she found it oddly endearing that he would endure the stink of Camembert cheese if it meant getting to be with her. 

He glared at her, and Ladybug didn't find it in the least bit threatening. It was kind of adorable actually, getting to see him all wound up like this when she was the one doing the teasing for a change. 

"No, but really." Ladybug said, propping her head up with one hand. His vivid green eyes stood out in the darkness, and it was hard to focus on anything else. "If you'd like, I would be happy to bring over food the next time we patrol."

His exasperation melted away into awed gratitude. "Really? You would do that?" 

"Yes, I would, who do you take me for? Something tells me that you never actually get to eat real food that you enjoy." 

"How are you knowing things like that?" He took a minute to say before continuing. "Yeah, I am not like, malnourished or anything, but I'm actually on this strict diet and my folks really don't count the energy needed for parkouring across Paris, you know?" 

"Oh, you poor kitten." Ladybug cooed unteasingly, her heart genuinely going out to him. She had never heard someone speak so longingly about food. "Of course I will bring you whatever you want. Everyone should get to eat what they love." 

She was supposed to be stargazing, but she couldn't look away immediately from his eyes, especially when they shone like stars.

"Thank you, m-Ladybug." He said, and her heart dropped like a stone. 

She gave him a strained smile before lying back down. 

He almost said it!!!! He almost did and then he-arrrrgghhh.

"Look!! I found Chameleon!!" He suddenly piped up.

"Are you trying to remind me of Lila Rossi?" She asked dryly. 

"What? No, Chameleon is an actual constellation, look!" He pointed up in the sky. 

She barely bit back her surprise at how knowledgeable he actually was about the stars. "Where?" 

"Okay, get up for a second." He said, pushing himself up, which drew attention to how ruffled his already messy hair had become. 

She got up as well and he offered her his open palm. "May I?" 

She didn't know what, exactly, but of course she didn't dwell on it too much. "Sure." She shrugged, giving him her hand. 

He got on his knees, shifting a little closer to her so his side was brushing against her torso. 

He held her hand, and her breath not so subtly hitched when one of his claws brushed against the inside of her wrist. 

"You see those two stars next to each other?" He used her hand to point this time. 

"Uh huh." Ladybug said, hating how breathy her voice sounded. Why was she acting like this over a simple hand holding all of a sudden?? This was Chat Noir for god's sakes!! She had been with him in several compromising positions during battle before and it never bothered her then! 

"Great, now if you move a little upwards towards the left," he directed her hand, (not once did he sink his claws into her wrist to control her movements) "there's another one, then downwards a little further, then to the right, and there's the last star-" 

"And then I connect it to the first two stars?" She guessed. 

"Yeah!" He said, taking his hand away. "Good job, Bugaboo." 

She was mentally preparing herself for him letting go of her hand eventually, instead she was met with the shock of her life. 

"You.... called me Bugaboo." She said in a trance, as he looked horrified at his own daring. 

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" 

"Why are you sorry?" 

"Uh...so you're not going to bite my head off about calling you Bugaboo?" He asked uncertainly. 

"No!!! I mean, I just noticed because-" she couldn't help the bitter undertone her voice took. "-you don't really call me by nicknames anymore."

His eyes narrowed. "Wait a sec. You missed it didn't you?" 

He looked incredibly smug. "I knew it would grow on you someday!" 

Her cheeks flushed hot. "No!!! Nothing like that!!! What are you talking about, I still hate the name Bugaboo!! I've seen you make better puns than that!" 

"Ah, so you like my puns now...." 

"No!! That's not what I said!!" 

He was definitely getting back at her for teasing him about the cheese. 

"What's wrong, Bugaboo? Getting starry eyed over how slick I am?" 

"Slick? Ha, you wish." She weakly shot back, but her happiness at being called Bugaboo twice in a row after a really really long time overtook everything else. 

"So, let's see, it's obvious you don't like the name...." He said, pretending to think. 

"I don't." She huffed. She was not letting him win that easily. 

"But I didn't hear you say anything about actually wanting me to stop calling you that." He said cheekily, but his eyes were earnest. "Should I?" 

'Yes!!' Ladybug wanted to scream. 'Yes, you can call me that for the rest of our lives if you wanted, I missed it so so so much-'

"Well," she said, looking away. "If you insist, I suppose you can." 

"Alright then, Bugaboo." He nudged her shoulder.

That horrible nickname sounded so beautiful when it came from him. 


	3. Day 3: In Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir has a date.

"Okay, breathe in, breathe out." Chat Noir told himself. "You can do this. It's not like she ever actually....never mind, she would be happy if I told her. She'd finally be relieved." 

"Who would finally be relieved?" Ladybug said, smiling tiredly as she landed on the rooftop. "Hey, Chat." 

"Oh, uh, hey, Ladybug." Chat said, hoping she couldn't pick up on his inner turmoil. 

"Is something wrong?" She asked curiously, walking up to him. "You look really pale." 

"There...may be something I have to tell you, but... I don't know how you would take it." He said nervously. 

One part of him was happy that he got to spend some time with Kagami, that she asked him out, the other part of him was nervous to go out on a date with someone-

"Well, what is it?" Ladybug asked, immediately worried. "Is there a problem?"

-someone who wasn't Ladybug. 

"No, no, no problems," he said, nervously twitching in the spot where he stood. "It is good news, I mean, I found it as good news- but I don't know how to tell you, and what you would think? I mean, not that I think you're judgemental or anything-" 

She placed both her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to shut up. "Chaton? Breathe."

He exhaled deeply. 

No, he couldn't think about soft he found her hands even through the suit. Nor how her blue eyes sparkled even with the worry for his sanity in them. He had a date with someone else, for crying out loud! Someone he liked. 

"Listen to me, okay? You can tell me anything." She said firmly, running her thumbs over his cheekbones so gently he had to fight back a whimper. "I won't judge. I promise." 

No. He couldn't let her do this. He couldn't let himself do this. If the date went well, and he had a girlfriend by the end of it, he couldn't be physically affectionate with Ladybug like he used to. 

He took her wrists and pulled her hands away.

"Chat?" She asked, confused. 

"Ladybug....I have a date with someone." He finally spit out. 

Her immediate reaction was to pull her wrists out of his non-existent grip. 

"Y-you do?" She stammered, obviously taken aback. 

"Yes." He nodded. "For real, I'm not trying to make you jealous or anything."

"With who?" 

"This girl?"

"I would hope so." She said with a tinkling laugh and his nerves dissipated. 

Some of them.

"I just, I thought you should know, before I- you know." He mumbled. "A part of me will always love you, Ladybug, but, you don't love me back in the same way, and, it's been a really, really long time, and it's not fair to you if I keep holding on to them. I'm moving on, but I still hope we can be friends and, if haven't ruined anything by-" 

"Chat, stop it!!" Ladybug interrupted. "No, you have nothing to apologise for, okay? You deserve someone you love and, someone who loves you back. I'm... I'm so happy for you, as a friend, that you found that someone." 

"Well..." He shrugged. "I don't know, it's only a first date. And the girl, she is wonderful, obviously, she's smart, she's brave, she-she always speaks what's on her mind, and I like spending time with her, but I am not sure about how things will go, yet, I mean. I'm just winging it." 

"Are you excited?" Ladybug asked. 

"I....am." he said. 

He was expectant. Which was a weird feeling to feel after hoping all this time that his love would be returned. 

"I am so, so happy for you. I really hope it works out between you and this girl. She's really, really....lucky!"

He was relieved. Really, really relieved. Ladybug looked genuinely happy for him. 

"Shall we go on patrol and meet at the Eiffel Tower?" Ladybug asked quickly after that. 

"Sure, no problem!" He said. 

He lied. There was one problem. He had seen Ladybug look happier than that. 


	4. Day 4: Disguises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug knows that the way to her kitty's heart is through his stomach.

All Adrien did the previous day was mope sadly to Ladybug about how much of a bust his date was. 

It wasn't Kagami's fault at all. It was him. He was the one who couldn't connect with her the way they used to when they were still friends. 

He had wanted to do something fun, like have a picnic in the park, Kagami wanted to slow down a lot more and just get to know each other more in a restaurant. Which was a very very valid request. And one he was more than happy to oblige.

The troubling thing was, as an Agreste, he should have been used to dining in fancy restaurants and knowing which fork to use. It wasn't boring, it was.... _suffocating_. 

Every single moment he was uncomfortably aware of how many people were eyeing Adrien Agreste and his date, so much he couldn't focus on Kagami's stories about her childhood in Japan. 

And when she had held his hand across the table, he DID reciprocate! He really did, but his mind was very much cloudy with....other details. Was he holding her hand too tight? Too loosely? Could he have sworn that the single flashing light behind their window was one of the paparazzi?

So at the end of the date, it didn't feel like a date, it felt more like an interview.

Kagami had felt his discomfort, and had acknowledged her own too. She was able to put in words what he was unable to even understand. They were putting too much pressure on themselves to be a couple. 

Maybe next time. Some other day, they had promised. 

He felt completely awful about the way he made her feel and was telling Ladybug every single excruciating detail without giving away his identity. She had patiently listened into the night, and when he was done with his story....

She asked him to wait for her at the park next to François Dupont, wearing a specific disguise she had instructed him to wear. 

So here he was, wearing khakis, a green undershirt, the shade of his eyes, and a black jacket with a dark green scarf. (He badly wanted to wear the one his father had given him, but growing up around fashion, heck, common sense told him that green and blue clashed heavily together. Besides, it was a huge clue to his identity and the last thing he wanted was to make things more difficult for Ladybug.) 

To top it all off, he was wearing dark sunglasses, which had been the most important part of his disguise. 

"Chat?" A distant female voice called to him, easy to hear in the barely crowded park during twilight. 

He turned his head and was immediately met with shades of red and pink. 

Holy shit, Ladybug was so cute. 

She was wearing a pink sundress underneath a red jacket, the same red as her costume, except without her spots, and she was wearing a pink scarf, and black sunglasses just like him.

"Ladybug...?" His cheeks were turning red. 

Holy shit holy shit holy shit he needed to stop blushing because he was just on a date with someone else and Ladybug still had her other boy and he still didn't know what the hell they were doing here but she looked so cute and pretty and even more cuddly-

"It is you!" She said cheerfully, running up to him. 

"Well, this cat did what you asked!" He did a quick twirl to show her his outfit, and she grinned appreciatively. 

"Very nice, you clean up well." She said. 

"So do you." He said, to make up for how much he wanted to scream BEAUTIFUL.

"Cats always clean up after themselves, Little Bug." He said, noting with pride the extra height his recent growth spurt had given him.

"Wait, is that a basket?" He asked, pointing to it in her hand. 

"Yeah, sorry for making you wait, but I had somethings to do and I was running a little late." She said sheepishly.

"No worries, LB." He waved it off. He would wait anywhere for as long as he could for her and she knew that. 

"Here." She said, thrusting something into his hand something black. 

"A mask? Do you want me to put this on?" He asked, even more confused and she nodded.

"I'm wearing one underneath my sunglasses." She said.

"But if we're going to be masked, why didn't we just transform? Why the disguises?" He asked. 

"Silly kitty." She booped his nose before taking his hand. "Follow me." 

* * *

She asked him turn away for a few minutes, and he took the moment to remove his sunglasses and wear the surprisingly comfortable cloth mask. 

"Did you buy this somewhere?" He asked curiously.

"Y-yeah I did!!" She said. 

"Can I turn around now...?"

"No!!! I'm not done yet!!" She said indignantly. 

She had led them into a dark corner of the park, where they were alone and no one would disturb them. 

"Bugaboo, pleeeeaaasee." He pouted, even though she couldn't see his kitten eyes. 

"Don't think I'm not aware that you are pouting, but you'll have to wait a few minutes longer." 

He whined. "But-" 

"Chat." She said firmly. "Good things come to those who wait." 

"I've been waiting FOREVER!! I'll die of old age at this rate! Are you calling that a good thing??" 

He heard her groan. "It's literally been 3 minutes, you drama queen." 

He opened his mouth to complain again, but the sudden waft of something delicious shut him up. 

He felt her hands on his shoulders, turning him around. "Okay, now you can look."

His mouth dropped open when he found a picnic blanket laden with croissants, spaghetti, macarons (PASSION FRUIT!! SHE REMEMBERED!!), and pastries. 

He had never seen so much food in his entire life. 

"Chaton?" She called, but all that came out was "Buh?" 

Giggling, she raised a finger to shut his gaping mouth. "Careful. You'll catch flies." 

"What's... what's all this?" He asked, dumbstruck. 

"You said you didn't exactly enjoy the date with your girl and you looked so unhappy all week, and well, you said you would have wanted a picnic for a date, and well, I thought, why not give you that experience? So I took note of all your favourite foods and tada!! I thought it would cheer you up." She said proudly. 

She went through all that trouble just for him? 

Just to cheer him up?? 

Tears sprang to the corners of his eyes and for once, he didn't care about who might be watching or everyone else's opinion. He was too busy wondering how he, the literal embodiment of bad luck was blessed with the presence of Ladybug in his life. 

His friends had tried to make him feel better, but there was nothing much they could do. His father reprimanded him for not keeping up his image as a teen idol. 

And then there was Ladybug, who cooked him an entire feast with so much effort just to make him happy.

"Chat?" She sounded worried now that he hadn't answered for a good minute. "Chat, is everything okay? Did...did I do something wrong?" 

"Wrong??" He choked out a teary laugh. "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me!!" He cheered as he picked her up by the waist and spun her around in a grateful hug. 

She laughed, and the sound was heaven compared to the blood still pounding in his ears. "Thank goodness." She whispered, her arms around his neck. "I was so afraid I crossed a line or something." 

At that he pulled back and placed a loud, searing kiss on her cheek. "I love you." He said. He didn't even know how he said it, all that mattered was that he did, and he meant it. 

"I love you too, silly kitty." She said fondly, brushing his bangs out of his forehead.


	5. Day 6: Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug adds a third rose to her collection.

This was dumb, and Ladybug was tired of dwelling on it for the past few days.

Chat Noir was her friend. He just went on a date with someone who undoubtedly was not a nightmare even though it supposedly did not go well.

She landed on the Eiffel Tower ages before him, and was sitting down to think grumpily. She knew that the day when Chat would officially see that pursuing her was a lost cause would be met by her with happiness and support. 

She just didn't think that day would actually come. 

It really wasn't fair of her to do this. She was the one who rejected him over and over again. She was the one who put that distance between them. She was the reason he looked borderline terrified to tell her something as trivial as this.

Because it was!! People went on dates all the time. Chat was undoubtedly having a normal life of his own behind the mask. It was inevitable that one day he would find someone.....

He called her brave, smart and unafraid to speak her mind. 

_'I'm all those things too.'_ she scoffed inside her head. Was she pretty? Did she call Chat by his civilian name and make it sound romantic? Did she know he makes terrible puns that are so bad they're actually good? Was she aware that he obviously was hiding some sort of sadness deep inside? Would he tell her? 

'You are a despicable human being. And friend. And partner.' she scolded herself angrily. No friend in their right mind would ever actually be so miffed at their friend liking someone and choosing to pursue it. Besides, it's not like the thought of going on a date with Chat had crossed HER mind. 

It was only a first date. She had nothing to worry about. 

If they went on a second one, they were well within their rights to try again in a different atmosphere they were comfortable in.

For all of two seconds, because that was when the horrible thought struck.

What if he called that girl his lady????

Oh no, oh no no no no.

It all added up. That was why Chat wasn't calling her 'm'lady' anymore. Because this girl had somehow wrapped him around her finger and monopolised a title that was supposed to be HERS.

_'You don't even know her, Marinette!'_ the good, moral side of her which sounded a lot like Tikki, argued. Which was true. This girl, whoever she was, had done nothing to her. Except tell Chat that she liked him back. The only thing that mattered was his happiness, and he was still there for her, Ladybug, as she navigated through the mess that was being a guardian. 

_'It was nice being his lady_.' She thought pitifully. _'Until it lasted.'_

A soft thud of boots behind her made her look up. "You're done early." He grinned, really grinned, in a lopsided way that made his eyes twinkle.

"Looks like Hawkmoth decided to sleep today." She said, returning his smile as best as she could.

"Ladybug?" He said suddenly, offering a hand to her. 

That was when she noticed his other hand was held behind his back.

"Okay, what are you up to?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "If that's another ball of yarn, I swear-" 

"No, it's something else." He actually looked serious, for once.

Taking the hint, she took his outstretched hand and stood up. "Is everything okay?" She asked, worriedly. Did she not look happy enough when he told her about the date and he picked up on it? 

He brought his other hand in front of her to reveal a single pink rose. Just like the one he gave her as Marinette. 

Now that she thought about that horrific, awkward incident, why was her first instinct to tell him that she loved him? Was she stupid?

"I, uh, may have plucked this from someone's rose garden, and you once told me your favourite colour is pink," he rambled. "I don't think they'll notice though!!! They have plenty of other roses, ehm, what I'm trying to say is, you never failed to make me feel like you needed me, and you always understood me better than anyone else and recently, I think I'm getting better at understanding my place in your life, Bugaboo. That picnic you made for me was amazing, and I know this is no way makes up for it, but…"

Ladybug's heart skipped a beat. What was he saying??? 

"I want to return the favour, and let you know that, no matter who I meet, or who comes into my life, there's no one who can replace you. You're my best friend, you're my inspiration and even if you don't believe it at the moment, the greatest hero Paris could have ever asked for, and even if Paris forgets, I won't. Here. This is for you." He offered the rose to her and she took it dumbly, his words still echoing in her ears. 

Who was she kidding? She was going to hold on to that rose forever, like the two others he had given her.

She took the rose and threw her arms around him in quick succession. He stiffened for a second, but then wrapped his arms around her as well. "Thank you, kitty cat. I sure hope that girl knows that you are one in a million. Or she'll have me to answer to." She said, clutching the rose in her right hand as her left one splayed across his shoulder blades. "I sure am lucky to have you." 

"Heh, lucky." He said, smugly. 

"Not another word.". She said sternly, before softening immediately and hugging him tighter.


	6. Day 10: Breakdown

Chat Noir felt a few tears roll down his face as he let a sniffling Ladybug hold him.

Hawkmoth had decided it would be a good idea to send Sandboy after them again, and true to their norm, they had succeeded. 

They had paid a severe price for having to fight the blue villain again. 

It had all gone so well at first too. They were handling everything so well, and Ladybug had successfully managed to evade the nightmare dust. 

He wasn't so lucky. While trying to lunge at Sandboy's pillow with his Cataclysm, he ended up sneezing all the dust he inhaled. 

An involuntary shudder ran through him, and Ladybug cuddled up to him tighter. "Hey, it's okay." She said, coarsing her fingers through his scalp. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." 

"It feels unreal." He said, his voice straggling. "I can't unsee what I saw. I'm trying but I can't." 

"Then hold on to me as long as you want." She said, gently sitting him down and laying him back to rest his disturbed head. "I'll stay until you want me to leave." 

"Don't leave!!" He blurted, before backtracking. "I mean, I don't want to disturb you or-or-" 

"I won't leave. And you're not disturbing me." She said, laying her head down on his chest, being as close to him as possible. Chat was always a very touchy person, but right now he didn't want physical contact, he desperately needed it. She pulled one of his arms around her back, letting him know that she was more than happy to oblige. 

Chat's fear had changed. It wasn't an evil Ladybug chasing them anymore. His nightmare was now a Ladybug appearing, moving a little bit, and then promptly collapsing on the ground, good as dead.

She had to hold back her own horror to help him calm down, taking him away from the scene of the battle for a while, and he didn't do much beyond shudder with fear as his teeth chattered. 

"I'm... I'm sorry... I'll go back, I'll help you!!" He had pleaded, repeatedly twisting his wrist, possibly to divert himself. 

They both honestly didn't remember getting rid of the akuma. The boy's parents had been looking for him in a street not too far away, so they dropped him off and....here they were. 

"Thank you, Ladybug." He whispered, cradling the top of her head.

"I can't believe you care about me this much." She murmured into his chest.

"Of course I do, m'lady." 

She stiffened. 

M'lady. 

Finally. 

Instead of dwelling on it and risking distressing him more, Ladybug held her tongue. 

She couldn't celebrate her stroke of good luck - getting to escape the nightmare dust - freely. 

Not when her nightmare included a white mask and blue eyes. And her real name. 


End file.
